By the age of 3 or 4, we all start to lie. At this point in our brain's development, we learn that we have an incredibly versatile¹ and powerful tool at our disposal -- our language -- and we can use it to actually play with reality and affect the outcome of what's happening.

人到了三四岁就开始说谎。在大脑发育的这个节点，人们认识到自己有一种多功能的强大工具可用，那就是语言。人们实际上可以用它来颠倒是非并影响事情的结局。

Lying is "bad", but we all have to lie sometimes. But some people are pathological liars², meaning they can't stop spreading misinformation about themselves and others.

说谎“不好”，但谁都不得不偶尔说谎。但有些人是病态撒谎精，忍不住要传播关于自己和别人的错误信息。

The psychological reasons for why some people are this way is a bit of a mystery, but according to the third edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistical³ Manual of Mental Disorders⁵", pathological lying is a disorder⁴ in its own right, as well as a symptom of personality disorders like psychopathy.

这种行为的心理学原因有点神秘莫测，但根据第三版《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》，病理性说谎不仅与心理变态和自恋一样，同为人格障碍的症状，其本身也是一种病。

Psychiatrist⁶ Judith Orloff said pathological liars have empathy deficient⁷ disorder, meaning they lack empathy, which essentially⁸ means a lack of conscience.

精神病学家朱迪丝·奥洛夫称病理性说谎者患有共情缺陷障碍，即缺乏同理心，实质上就是缺乏良知。

When you don't care about other people, lies don't seem to matter. A lack of empathy essentially means a lack of conscience, which is a hard concept to grasp for a lot of people.

如果你不在乎别人，那么谎言也就显得无所谓。缺乏同理心实质上就是缺乏良知，这对很多人来说是一个难以理解的概念。

"When they lie it doesn't hurt them in the same way it would hurt us," Orloff said. "So many people can't understand why they're lying, because they're trying to fit these people into the ordinary standards of what it means to be empathetic."

奥洛夫说：“他们说谎的时候不会像我们一样感到难受。很多人根本不明白这些人为什么撒谎，因为他们试图让这些病态的说谎者达到关于同理心的通常标准。”

But they don't fit. In fact, they may not even realise they are lying half the time, because they're not conscious of it.

但这些说谎者是达不到通常标准的。事实上，他们有一半时候或许根本没有意识到自己在说谎，因为他们毫无察觉。

Orloff said they actually believe they are telling the truth a lot of the time. It's not so much about the fact itself, she said, as it is about wanting to have power over somebody.

奥洛夫表示，他们很多时候其实认为自己说的是实话。这跟事实本身没多大关系，关键是他们想掌控别人。

Once the lies start, it can end with the victim being gaslighted, which is essentially when they are told over and over again that their version of reality is incorrect, and they begin to believe the warped⁹ truth of the abuser.

一旦谎言开始，其最终结果就是受害者被逼疯，他们一遍又一遍地被告知自己所认定的现实是不准确的，而且开始相信经过说谎者歪曲的真相。